Hanover, NH – October 18, 2010: Sassafras Software, a long time innovator in the fields of Software Asset Management (SAM) and IT Asset Management (ITAM), is adding comprehensive software purchase tracking tools to the next major release of its award winning product, K2 – KeyAuditor & KeyServer.

With the release of K2 version 7, the new purchase database will enable licensing administrators to easily reconcile license entitlement rights with usage and software audits. This important new capability links procurement and financial details directly to deployed software throughout an organization. Detailed purchase histories for software licenses, version upgrades, and support contracts are summarized in reports that can be filtered by cost centers to enhance a SAM practitioners’ ability to efficiently achieve software license compliance and cost reduction.

Purchase data can be entered directly or imported from external sources with an option to internally store proof of ownership documents, license agreements, and contract documents for quick retrieval from within the K2 administrative interface. As with all K2 KeyAuditor & KeyServer functionality, the new Purchase and Entitlement Tracking system is fully integrated into the management and reporting console. There are no separate modules to buy and no back-end infrastructure requirements.

New custom reporting features have broadened the ability to specify the scope, included fields, and detail presented in reports. Technical optimizations have dramatically increased responsiveness of ad-hoc reports so results are typically returned within minutes even for sites managing tens of thousands of computers.

Sassafras has responded to customer requests from very large sites with a redesign of K2’s administrative account management. Administrative Account logins can be managed through an authentication server of your choice (Active Directory, Open Directory Services, LDAP, etc.). By assigning various Administrative Roles, a management team can assign administrative responsibilities by division and control reporting and configuration rights as appropriate.

Customizable reports provide integrated views of hardware and software asset allocation, software usage patterns, and license compliance. K2’s data can be easily integrated with other SAM/ITAM tools for customized reports that combine data from multiple sources. K2 scales from managing small lab facilities with just a few dozen computers to global enterprises managing tens of thousands of computers worldwide.

Availability and Pricing

K2 v7.0 is scheduled for release in mid 2011. Pricing is based on the number of client devices placed under K2 management. K2 is sold as a complete package including all components and technical support at no additional charge. Customers with an Upgrade Subscription Plan will receive K2 version 7.0 at no charge. Upgrade costs for customers without an Upgrade Subscription Plan are computed based on the size of each K2 installation and its last purchase date. Discounts are available for educational and non-profit organizations.

Additional information and evaluation copies are available by contacting:
Sassafras Software Inc.
603-643-3351info@sassafras.com

About Sassafras Software, Inc.

Sassafras Software has a long tradition as innovator and market leader in providing tools for Software Asset Management (SAM). The pioneering KeyServer(R) product from Sassafras has evolved over more than 20 years since its initial release into an elegant, award winning, unified tool set for both Hardware and Software Asset Management.

K2-KeyAuditor & KeyServer is designed for today’s complex physical, virtual, and cross-platform computing environments where it has become a critical component of license compliance and software cost reduction efforts in some of the largest corporate, educational, and government enterprises worldwide. Sassafras enjoys broad support from software publishers, including many technical partners that rely exclusively on K2-KeyServer technology.

Sassafras has been instrumental in driving the development of software licensing standards for two decades. Members of the Sassafras team were among the coauthors of the LS-API specification in the early 1990’s. In recent years, a Sassafras volunteer has contributed as a coauthor to the ISO/IEC 19770-2 international standard for software identification and served as the Convener of the working group developing the ISO/IEC 19770-3 standard for software license entitlements.

Sassafras Software has been recognized by the world’s leading IT Asset Management associations with the highest levels of professional recognition in the IT Asset Management industry.